because finals are currently consuming me, a small smackeral

iceland is melting!

an interesting talk about the literal and economic melting of iceland.

things i never knew about iceland:
1. you can look up their prime minister in the icelandic phone book
2. there are 300,000 people in iceland. that means that the phone book mentioned above is about the size of a regular city phone book. but it has the white pages and the yellow pages and everyone in the entire country.
3. it was in 2007 ranked number 1 on a list whose name i don't know but measured things like literacy rate, absence of poverty etc.
4. they are nowprobably going to switch to the euro, something that was strongly opposed before the economic crisis
5. they make lots of money from fish.
6. four men used to run the major banks in iceland, now four women do.
7. people in iceland can detect even the slightest foreign accent in the icelandic of people who aren't truly from iceland

happy thanksgiving!

there's so much to be thankful for. if only i had the time to write it all down. til then, my favorite comics from today's paper.

how far we've come - matchbox twenty

i'm waking up at the start of the end of the world,
but it's feeling just like every other morning before,
now i wonder what my life is going to mean if it's gone.
the cars are moving like a half a mile an hour if that
and i started staring at the passengers who're waving goodbye
can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?

but i believe the world is burning to the ground
oh well i guess we're gonna find out
let's see how far we've come
let's see how far we've come
well i, believe, it all, is coming to an end
oh well, i guess, we're gonna pretend,
let's see how far we've come
let's see how far we've come

i think it turned ten o'clock but i don't really know
then i can't remember caring for an hour or so
started crying and i couldn't stop myself
i started running but there's no where to run to
i sat down on the street and took a look at myself
said where you going man you know the world is headed for hell
say your goodbyes if you've got someone you can say goodbye to

but I believe the world is burning to the ground
oh well I guess we're gonna find out
let's see how far we've come
let's see how far we've come
well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end
oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,
let's see how far we've come
let's see how far we've come

almost thanksgiving!

and finally. there are only two days until we all get a much needed break. i can feel everyone wearing down and tiring out - it did not help me that i was on a leadership retreat this weekend and therefore got even less sleep than usual but oh well. i'm excited to go back home and be with family and friends again before diving back into the chaos and stress of impending finals (mine unfortunately include a paper, a comprehensive test, a project and ready? a 24 hour shoot yourself write two 5-6 page papers and make them good take-home test) on the plus side, if i'm on top of my game then i get to leave for winter break earlier than most people and really truly relax.

also. its cold. but i'm still wearing flip-flops. do not worry.

postsecret

from postsecret a cool blog slash community art project where people mail in secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard

5 things that make me happy

i was asked to think about this for a friend. so here is what i ended up with

1. laughing or smiling - they both lift me out of crummy moods. esp love laughing so hard i can't breathe slash when laughing so hard it hurts
2. being crazy with friends. but also friends who it doesn't matter what we talk about (silly, serious, illogical, deep) or what we do or how often we get to see each other, we'll still be friends.
3. writing letters and then getting letters back
4. baking. esp fruit pies and cookies
5. traveling to different places and a. seeing awe-inspiring feats of nature b. seeing cultural related places that have deep histories and meanings for many people c. meeting people who's perspectives on life are completely different from mine on a variety of levels but who i will still be able to find something in common with
6. weather a. crisp fall mornings when the leaves are changing colors b. big fluffy snowfall with snow on the ground (think winter wonderland) c. flowers in bloom d. rain (esp dancing in said rain)
7. singing along with music (loud, soft, whatever)

ok ok i said 5. i thought of three things while thinking of numero five so i just put them all down.

comment on yours if you have time!

tracy kidder

i know, i know. i go to too many talks and why did i call this "tickle my life" when it's not actually very funny? i guess what it comes down to is that i may never again be surrounded by the opportunity to go to so many unique talks and before college burns me out, i might as well go if i have time. also tracy kidder is just really cool for all that he is most certainly a better author than he is a speaker (this is not to say that what he had to say was not interesting - it was). anyways, he talked about burundi and village health works and before there was a fundraiser dinner where students swipe in and money gets donated (this is definitely one of the cooler/nicer things that the college does). food was yum, especially the pink bean soup. the other thing that the dinner made me realize was that i know nothing about africa. i dont' even know it's geography let alone it's massively confusing history of conflict. that's now my winter study project for all the free time i anticipate having (yes, that's added on to an already long list of things to do). in any case, the project is extraordinary in that it has such a large indigenous support base and tons of local volunteers, most particularly women. when a belgium road company said that it would cost thousands of dollars to expand the road leading to the clinic that was built, the locals, upon hearing of the dilemma, said that no money would be paid, they would do it themselves. and they did. it gives me hope that there are people who have the passion and willpower to really make positive change no matter the adversity faced. and it gives me hope that not everything done in philanthropic attempts to make the world better is fruitless. so contribute if you have the ability, money in africa goes an awful lot farther than it does in the us.


(and total side note, in case you're wondering, the tickle comes from me being ticklish and not in any way from the content of my ramblings)

the economic crisis, if nothing else, is good for a laugh

members of the congressional black caucus

"[the burden of race] is not behind us now; it's right in front of us" -ny rep yvette clarke

"the cbc agenda is the agenda of america. it can help america become not the america that it has been, but the america the we know america can be [...] i don't see anything left about wanting to put people to work, feed people who are hungry and provide energy to people who are cold." - il rep danny davis

i cannot believe that there was a line all the way across the quad at seven for an event that didn't start until eight. but indeed it was a big deal to have nine members of the congressional black caucus present and the governor of massachusetts speak here. and i'll admit, it was pretty amazing. my only regret about the situation was that the moderator spent a lot of time polling every person's reaction to obama's election instead of allowing whoever wanted to respond as she did when asking questions later in the evening. while their reactions were interesting, i believe that their political opinions on what i would consider greater matters would have been a better use of time. nonetheless, there were many interesting points raised by the congress men and women present. i'll mention a notable few. first, that although obama will be president and he was a member of the black caucus, the agenda of the black caucus will remain progressive because that is it's role - in one congressperson's opinion, the caucus serves to state things that others don't feel they are able to for whatever reason - the caucus is progressive in so many ways and they won't change their agenda - it will simply have more help now. second, the election served as a barometer on the issue of race in the usa - think about what it would have said if mccain had been elected instead. last piece that stuck with me was that while a senator from california argued that the gay rights movement was not comparable to the civil rights movement, a senator from georgia completely advocated for gay rights and that it too was a pursuit of fundamental human rights - for people to be allowed to fall in love and marry whomever they like. i must say i agree with him. in any case, while the topics and conversation of the event were not altogether very surprising in terms of content, the event was certainly thought-provoking and enlightening - both perfect for a college campus, don't you agree?

prop. 8

who would have thought that it would pass? well, i guess i, being the pessimist that part of me is, had heard and sadly believed that it would pass. tears. i sincerely wish it hadn't and realize that while (luckily) motions like a law stating that life began at birth were not passed, gay rights and gay marriage were struck down pretty hard at the election a few weeks ago. how depressing. we make a big move by electing a (half) black president (um, why has it taken so long?) and we (again, *finally*) have a female asian-american state senator but still. i wonder how much truth there is that the fact that minorities came out in force contributed greatly to the passing of prop. 8 because statisticly they voted for the measure. so when push comes to shove, can you blame the minorities? perhaps. but it might be better to poll people on what their religion is because it seems to me like that has a greater influence. nonetheless, to massively abuse my capacities to generalize (always a bad thing, i know), many minorities, latinos especially, are catholic or otherwise deeply religiously affiliated in a way detrimental to open-minded-ness about sexuality. so maybe there is a connection to be made. and here's the other ish, because i don't really have an answer to the previous one, the "separation" of church and state. non-existant if you actually thought about it. first (unrelated) get under god out of the pledge of allegiance. it wasn't there to begin with, it really has no place there now. second (related) why oh why can the state give out marriages...they should really give out civil unions which are effectively the same as marriages in terms of legal privileges without the religious connotation. i know, i know, not gonna happen because the term marriage in both its nonreligious and religious affiliation are deeply ingrained in our society (like racism...wait did i say that out loud?). end ramble.

p.s. cool anti-prop. 8 shirts available at blacklava.

ahmed ahmed

one word. hilarious.

no joke the guy was really funny which i suppose is a good thing since he is after all a comedian. granted it was a bit un-PC given his liking of arabic/muslim jokes often of the "yes we can laugh at ourselves, and you can laugh too" nature. it was a little sad to see how PC the campus is and the oohs and aahs at some of the more un-PC jokes, but still, i of all people understand where they come from. racial jokes can go a bit too far but they're also excellent fodder for comedians - what's better than a strong accent? someone who can laugh at their own identity? (but of course, try not to make fun of someone else's identity...that might be labeled easily and readily as very not cool). ok so in all seriousness part of me opposes this kind of comedy but at the same time, it's funny. i can't deny that. is there a line we're supposed to be drawing between making cracks at certain stereotypes and degrading ourselves or others? is it wrong to laugh? the first question i'd say i'm sure there is only i don't know where it goes. the second i'd say in most cases not as un social justice like of me that is.

"he's a little weird...he talks to his invisible friend allah five times a day"

"look she's blushing! she's turning yellow" [about asian girl in the audience]

there was more. it was better than what i can type.

peace. (insha'allah).